Archive for the ‘opinion’ Category
GIS Servers and the 64-bit Question
The following is the first in a series of posts related to configuring a 64-bit Windows server as a GIS server using MapServer and Python.
Why move to 64-bit?
If a server’s operating system and hardware are 64-bit it seems a waste not to take advantage of them. It may be better to look at the question why move to 64-bit software, as why wouldn’t you move to 64-bit software?
Its nice to be able to claim one-upmanship over commercial GIS products who are only now bringing out 64 bit versions. However having gone through the pain of setting up Open Source GIS applications on Windows I’m not surprised companies took the time to simplify the process (and wait for Microsoft to do some of the legwork) rather than dealing with all the 32/64 bit support issues too early.
OpenSource Upgrades
Moving to new versions in OpenSource has in the past been like playing Russian roulette. Just now clicking on “Upgrade to WordPress 3.0″ I thought would lead to a greater understanding of the database schema, template inconsistencies, and plug-in idiosynchrocies of WordPress as I met an inevitable “Upgrade Failed. Please see log for details” message.
But no! Five seconds later, all was successful, and everything looked as before. There have been numerous bug fixes and improvements, but after a brief look through the list I didn’t see any “killer” new features.
In the world of GIS however there are a number of important new versions coming up this summer.
Read the rest of this entry »
Source Control using BitBucket
Putting code under source control is on most checklists for modern software development. Even small side projects, scripts, and code snippets can benefit from being under source control. For example:
When you improve the code others can see the changes and get the benefits- If someone else improves the code those improvements can be passed back to you via an automated process
BitBucket is a hosting service for the code-source control system Mercurial. Mecurial is part of a new-wave of distributed source control systems that have the following advantages and disadvantages over regular non-distributed source control:
OpenAerialMap
Everyone loves aerial photography. Some of its early pioneers were the James Bonds of their era. Twenty years ago people could go round neighbourhoods in England and sell people frames photographs of their houses from the air.
Today people spend hours looking at the aerial photography layer on Google Maps wondering why so many people have outdoor swimming pools in the UK..
People also like free data. And companies like data free from the Google Terms of Service even more. The successful OpenStreetMap wiki refers to what seems to be the perfect datasource – the OpenAerialMap (OAM) project, however it starts with the rather ominous opening statement:
It was available at http://openaerialmap.org/ but…
We Know Where Your Browser Lives
Maybe I’m a little late in finding this, but if you have FireFox 3.5 or higher try clicking this link (you will have to agree to let your browser divulge your location to open the link). The JavaScript code run when clicking the link is as follows, and can also be pasted directly into your address bar:
javascript:navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(
function(position){
window.location.href="http://maps.google.com/?ll="+position.coords.latitude+",
"+position.coords.longitude;});
I believe the navigator.geolocation object is also available in Safari, iPhone, and Chrome. The Mozilla documentation provides more details on its use. This StackOverflow question asks which browsers and devices it applies to, and this is set to grow if it becomes part of the browser standards – the W3C has an online draft Geolocation API Specification. They list the following use cases: Read the rest of this entry »
Masquerades, Geocaching, and Easter Eggs
Thirty years ago Kitt Williams wrote, or rather painted, the children’s book Masquerade. Each page had a picture that contained hidden clues pointing to the location of an 18-carat gold, jewel-encrusted hare buried somewhere in Britain. It sparked a National treasure hunt and sold 2 million copies.
I remember being fascinated with the pictures and the theories and solutions bandied about by those older and wiser than I. The majority of programmers seem to have a fondness for puzzles and riddles, and the beauty and success of the book was that it involved transposing clues to maps and real-world locations.
Geocaching
Geocaching could be seen as a successor to Williams’s book. As someone working in technology and geography it should seemingly be an ideal pastime. However the fact geocaching is a trademarked word owned by a company named Groundspeak kills a little of the mystique. Secondly it appears to me to be the equivalent of driving around in the middle of nowhere with a bad in-car GPS trying to find an address that’s missing from the database.
Politics, IT, Spending, and GIS
With an impending election in the UK, the Conservatives, the current opposition party have decided to try and win some votes by cutting spending in IT. On the upside they plan to scrap ID cards if elected. Which GIS projects this may affect is impossible to tell as:
He [the shadow chancellor] was unable to cite specific projects, as opposition parties are not allowed to inspect government contracts.
What would be ideal is if IT projects were able to be scrutinised by the opposition parties, and the public. It appears Australia is far more open with their government tenders, and even include the actual costs involved which would be considered as extremely sensitive business data in other countries.
